


A Lot Can Happen in Approximately Two Years

by soverysesual



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Infinity War spoilers, Mostly Fluff, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), a lot of father-figure bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 14:25:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14522571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soverysesual/pseuds/soverysesual
Summary: (Contains Spoilers from Infinity War Part 1)Tony’s dream about wanting kids isn’t just a coincidence.or, what happens in the years leading to Infinity Wars





	A Lot Can Happen in Approximately Two Years

**Author's Note:**

> after my last two stories, I needed something lighter to write about. I also wanted to fill that two year gap between Civil War/Homecoming and Infinity War. Please note that this uses quotes from the new movies so SPOILERS AHEAD
> 
> also please ignore any character/story mistakes, this is only the third time I've ever written for these characters/this universe and I'm trying my best.

**_“What’s up, Mr. Stark?”_ **

“Tony Stark what the  _hell_  were you thinking?”

Pepper stormed into his lab, heels clicking very loudly as she entered.  Tony jumped from his position underneath a suit he was working on. 

“Oh geeze, what did I do this time?”

“Tony, we just closed the deal and Happy just moved everything out and-”

“Ah. Shit, listen Pep...”

“- I mean are you doing this to intentionally piss me off because I am  _beyond_  pissed off right now.”

“Pepper.”

She stops pacing around and looks at him.

“I just was thinking it would be a... good idea to have a place downtown...for no reason in particular or anything... and why not just buy back the place we had before? I don’t understand why you’re so mad anyways.  It was your baby, wasn’t it?  Or at least 12 percent of it was anyways.” He teased, but Pepper knew he was skirting around the answer.  He didn’t make eye contact as he moved away toward a different holographic screen. Then it dawned on her.

“Oh I get it.”

A beat.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“This is because the kid turned you down isn’t it?”

“No, because that... that would be an overreaction, and I don’t overreact to things.”

Pepper just stares at him.

“God, you’re such a bad liar.”

He pouts at this.

“Pep... I just... think it would be a good idea to you know, keep an eye on him.  Let him have his own lab space there so he can work on his suit. All of that kind off... stuff.”  He says, gesturing vaguely.

She smiled at him because the kid’s softening him up  _already_  (Ok, that’s not entirely true. Pepper has known for a long time that Tony has always been a big ol’ softie, but this is very... different).

“You know, you could’ve just told me that.”

Tony just shrugs and moves back towards what he’s working on.

A few weeks later, after all of the renovations are done at the “new” Stark Tower, he’s waiting for Peter outside of his school to pick him up.  Peter looks like a deer in headlights, and the kid next to him is  _bouncing_ up and down.

“Hey Pete. Hey.. Ned, isn’t it?” (Tony didn’t definitely check the kid’s Facebook real quick before he showed up to get that one right.  Because he definitely  _wasn’t_  trying to impress the kid or anything.)

Ned makes a strange noise but nods enthusiastically.  Peter still looks like he’s trying to figure out if he’s hallucinating.

“Wh-what are you doing- I mean- uh- what’s up Mr. Stark?”

Tony tries not to laugh.  If the kid’s surprised now, wait until he see’s his new lab...

“Hop in, kid.  I’ve got a surprise for you.”

_\---_

**_“Mr. Stark! I’m being beamed up!”_ **

Tony walks into the room with a box of the best pizza the Big Apple has to offer and plops down on the couch next to Peter.  It's their third movie night this week.  Pepper and May have already been teasing them about spending too much time together, but both pretend not to hear it.

“What are we watching tonight, kid?”

Peter flips through the choices on Netflix for a few moments and finds something he likes.

“Can we watch Star Trek?” he asks, earnestly.  Tony looks confused for a moment.

“I thought Star Wars was more of your thing?” He asks, wondering if he’s been getting it wrong this whole time and was making an ass out of himself.  Peter smirks.

“People can like more than one thing, Mr. Stark.”  Peter teases.  Tony rolls his eyes.  He briefly wonders if the kid's getting a little  _too_ comfortable, but then he decides very quickly that he doesn't care in the slightest.

“Look, quit sassing me or you’ll get no pizza.”  Peter immediately throws his hands in the air in defeat and Tony laughs.  Peter doesn’t move to press play, however.

“Start it up, buddy,” Tony says, but Peter frowns.

“A-are you sure, Mr. Stark?  We can watch something else if you-”

_Ah_ , Tony thinks.  _Still not that comfortable_.

“Nope.  Movie night is where you run the show.  I’m just here for the ride,”  Tony says, leaning back into the couch and taking a bite of the pizza.  Peter just smiles as he presses play.

_\---_

**_“Pete, you gotta let go.  I’m gonna catch you.”_ **

“Parker.  I think I need the spider on this one.  Upper West Side, ASAP.”

Peter almost drops and shatters his phone in excitement.

It’s the first time that Tony’s asked to team up since Peter had turned down the Avengers spot, and even though he and Mr. Stark has been hanging out quite a bit since Stark Tower 2.0 was established.  He had been wondering if turning down the Avengers meant also turning down fighting with Iron Man, and was relieved to find that this wasn’t the case.

Peter makes it across town at a speed that would rival the speed of light, and Iron Man is already there, rounding up what looks to be a whole group of idiots with  _a lot_  of alien that clearly none of them actually know how to handle.

“Oh, good you’re here.”  Tony’s voice comes over the comms in the Spider-Man suit.  “Just... do your whole spider thing and help me get some of this under control.”

“On it, Mr. Stark!” He says, a little too enthusiastically, and within seconds is webbing up bad guy after bad buy.

However, there’s a few guys that are really making their lives difficult.  A large group of burly guys on the ground are causing trouble with alien guns they clearly don’t know how to use, while another guy is flying around (in a suit that’s eerily similar to what the Vulture had, but Peter’s trying not to think about it).

“Any chance you can web that guy up, Spidey, while I take on these wannabe nightclub bouncers?” Tony asks as he tries dealing with the group on the ground.

“Got it- Whoa!” Peter yells, as his webs cling to the dude’s suit just as the dude quickly gains altitude.  Peter tries to release the web and latch on to a nearby building instead when he realizes the web shooter is jammed, and he’s still being dragged into the sky.

“Uh, Mr. Stark.  A little help?”

Tony realizes what’s happening and directs his attention to the flailing pair in the air: the bad guy is trying to shake Spider-Man off, while Spidey works to un-jam the shooter.

“It won’t come loose!” Peter says, a little more frantically than he’d like as he continues to be jostled around.  He thinks he hears Tony swear into the comms.

“I can’t get a good angle on you to shoot the web.  He’s whipping you around too much and I don't wanna hit you.”

Peter groans as he tries to work the fibers loose, starting to get a little panicky as the guy gets higher and higher above the skyscrapers.  It’s starting to feel like the plane and Coney Island all over again, and he doesn’t know what’s coming over him.

“Mr. Stark-” he starts, and Tony immediately picks up on the kid’s tone.

“Pete.  You gotta yourself free from the web shooter, and then I’ll catch you, okay kid?  Focus up.”  Peter makes a bit of a squeak noises and focuses back on the shooter despite the fact that he’s uncomfortably high right now.  And then he feels the fiber come apart from the mechanism.

“I got it!” He yells, now just gripping onto the web with his hands.

“Pete, when I say so, you let go!  I’m gonna catch you!  Ready.... go!”

Peter lets go and for only a few seconds he’s falling fast, and it feels like the plane crash all over again, before Iron Man comes up from underneath him and catches him.

“Alright let’s get you to solid ground,” Tony says as he flies them back towards the city while he tries to get a reading on the kid's panic.

“But he’s gonna get away!”  Peter says frantically, but Tony still hears the panic in the kid’s voice and he shakes his head.

“You get to safety first.  Then we’ll worry about bird brains.”

Peter doesn’t say anything, because he feels a little guilty about being the reason the guy got away.  But, as his panic starts to subside, he feels better knowing Tony Stark will be there to catch him.

\---

**_“Happy trails, kid.  F.R.I.D.A.Y., send him home.”_ **

Tony gets a call during a movie night that the FBI finally has a lead on a serial kidnapper that had been plaguing the city for the past few weeks.  The kidnapper is the kind that’s been abducting young people at random and without a trace.  He’s hit almost every part of the city at this point, and most recently, Queens.  Tony has taken every step to make sure Peter doesn't go and try to track the guy down on his own.  Also, and Tony wouldn’t admit it to anyone if they asked, it’s been keeping him up at night with worry.

Of course, as soon as Tony moves towards the suit storage, Peter wants in on the mission.

“Mr. Stark how can I-”

“No."  Tony says, not letting the kid even try to argue his way into this one.  "Go home right now, kid.”

Peter frowns.  Sure, Tony doesn't let him go on missions sometimes, but Tony’s not usually so short with him like this.

“Please, I’m sure I can help!”

“No."  Tony repeats, even more frustrated this time.  "Listen kid, you don’t know what I’m about to head into and I don’t want you anywhere near it.”

Peter pouts a little, and Tony's pretty sure the kid's figured out where he's headed.

“I can handle it, Mr. Stark.”

Tony sighs, and shakes his head a little.

“Kid, it’s not about whether or not you can handle it.  I know you can.  But for this one..." Tony practically shudders at the thought.  "This time, I’m really gonna need you to sit this one out.  For me, personally.  For my own sanity.”

Peter, finally starting to pick up on why Tony's shutting him down so quickly, gives in.

“Fine.  As long as we get a movie night do-over tomorrow,”  Peter says to lighten the mood (and also because he has a feeling Tony's going to need it).

Tony smiles at the kid, filled with relief that he’s not fighting him on this.

“Promise.  Now go home.  F.R.I.D.A.Y., get Happy.”

A few hours later, when the suspect is apprehended and the kids are all reunited with their loved ones, Tony gets a text from Peter as he heads home.

_Hey Mr. Stark.  Just saw what happened on the news.  Thanks for looking out for me._

\---

**_“Speaking of loyalty...”_ **

They don’t talk about the Accords...until they do.

Some 24 hour news station happens to be on while they’re working in the lab, and there’s another debate about the Accords.  Tony just frowns at the T.V.   He’s  _really_  not in the mood starting to feel like shit about it again, especially on a day where there kid is over. 

But Tony decides to ignore it and goes back to what he’s working on for a while.  Until he hears a pundit say, “Why should we trust Tony Stark's opinion while he's up there in his ivory tower?”  Tony just rolls his eyes at the cliché of it all, but then he hears an exasperated huff from across the room.  Damn.

“Kid...”

“They’re so full of shit!”

Tony raises his eyebrow, not expecting  _that_ reaction. “Whoa-”

“After everything you’ve done for the country, no!  For the  _world_  and they have the  _audacity...”_ Peter is now fired up and is pacing closer to the tv, gesturing a bit wildly.

“Pete-”

“I - I mean it’s just absolutely ridiculous that these people can go on T.V. and say all this stuff when they don’t even  _know_ you...” 

“Kid!” Tony shouts, bringing Peter back to earth. “Listen, while I deeply appreciate your clearly undying loyalty to me, did you ever think that I might’ve actually been wrong?  That I made mistakes about that whole thing, and on top of it, I got you, a twelve year old, all wrapped up in it without giving you the whole story?”

Tony expects a correction about his age, but Peter just frowns at Mr. Stark.

“Look kid,” Tony says, putting his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I'm trying to say that I'm sorry I made you pick sides.  I've been feeling kind of bad about it for awhile.  I just want to make sure that, from now on, you’re thinking critically about all of this, okay?  And I also want you to be able to make up your own mind.”

Peter’s still frowning a little when he speaks again.

“Listen, I know I’m not as old and wise as you but-”

“Hey!” ( _There's the payback for getting the age wrong._ )

“But I  _did_ actually do some of my own research.  Mind you it was after the whole trip, but that's not my point.  I see the pros and cons to all the sides, and well... I certainly got where you were coming from. And people make mistakes,”  he says, shrugging a little. “At least you had solid reasoning behind your argument.  Both sides do.”

They’re both quiet for a moment.

“Well. Cool.”  Tony says to break the awkward silence.  “Glad you have my back.”  Peter just grins.

“Yeah!  Besides, I can’t just up and  _switch sides!_   My Iron Man PJ’s are like... the comfiest ones I own!”

\---

**_“If anything it’s kinda your fault that I’m here”_ **

Peter is stuck to the ceiling.

Not like, "chilling up there with his weird spider powers" kind of stuck.

More like... the nano tech Tony was testing for 17A decided to latch on to Peter while Peter was in the middle of testing out a software upgrade in the original Spidey suit.

“Uh, Mr. Stark.  What did you  _do???_ ” Peter asks after a solid fifteen minutes of being stuck upside down. 

“I’m doing my best here, kid!”  Tony says frantically from across the room.  Peter can hear a lot of beeping and crashing and even more swearing.  He waits another ten minutes until he speaks up again.

“Mr. Stark, if you could just... um... hurry up a little?  I’m starting to get a light headed.”  He hears Tony drop something and swear a few times before Tony says anything to him.

"I thought you had enhanced abilities! You're upside down all the time!"

"Yeah but it's been like... half an hour now.  I think even Spider-Man has his limits on this."  Peter muses, wondering if he should be also keeping track of this for research purposes, but he's really more worried about getting down.  Soon.

“I’m working on it!  Being up there’s your fault anyways.  What the hell were you even doing up there?”

“You told me to test the camera inversion settings!  So technically it’s  _your_  fault that I’m stuck up here.”

Tony’s silent for a few moments and Peter’s glad he can’t see the anger on his mentor’s face from this angle.

“No one said you had to actually climb up to the ceiling to test it!”  Tony yells in exasperation. “’My fault,’” he repeats under his breath, but Peter can still hear him.  “You know I  _could_  just leave you up there.”  Peter squeaks.

“Come on, Mr. Stark,” he whines.  “I’m sorry I said that, okay?!  Now could you please-”

And with that the nano tech releases him and fly back towards the piece Tony is working on.  Peter, relieved from finally being free, quickly jumps down from the ceiling, and almost passes out from moving too quickly.

“That’s what you get for being a smart ass to a smart ass.”

\---

**_“Okay, you ever see this really old movie, ‘Aliens’?”_ **

It’s Spider-Man, Iron Man, _and_ War Machine on the case today.  This time, it seems to be a massive hostage situation in one of the skyscrapers, and Tony wants all hands on deck.

“Reminds me of that old movie _Die Hard_.”  Spider-Man says after the briefing.

Tony and Rhodey both groan.

“How old  _is_  this guy, Tony?”  Rhodey asks. 

“What did I say?”  Peter asks innocently.

War Machine throws his hands in the air and flies away to get more info from the FBI, while Tony gets frustrated.  “Will you quit doing that, kid?!”

“Doing  _what?”_

“You’re making Rhodey feel old.”

“Oh and not you?”  Peter teases.

“That’s it, you’re not invited for the next movie night!”

“Aww, come on! I thought we were supposed to watch that other old movie, _Alien_.”

They hear Rhodey, who was still listening to the conversation over the comms, yell “You’ve  _got_  to be kidding me with this!”

Iron Man shakes his head as Spider-Man points towards the building.

“I’ll just... be over there.”

_\---_

**_“I’m sorry, I’m confused as to the relationship here.  What is he, your ward?”_ **

Rhodey bumps into Tony at a tech conference.  He’s there to talk to some people about how they can mass market affordable assisted walking braces similar to the ones Tony’s made for him, when he notices the man in question, patting some kid on the shoulder.

“What if I make an ass out of myself?”  Rhodey hears the kid say to Tony as he approaches the two. 

“Well first, watch your mouth,”  Tony replies.  “Second, you’ll be fine.  We’ve practiced this a hundred times.  You’ve had the great Tony Stark show you how to do a presentation, and you've seen my presentations before.  You’re gonna knock it out of the park.”

“Oh please,” Rhodey interrupts, and Tony smiles at the surprise.  “He acts like he wasn’t freaking out the first time he presented in front of the entire student body at MIT.  I was there.  It wasn’t pretty.”

The teen laughs and Tony frowns.

“Don’t listen to anything this handsome stranger tells you, kid.”  Tony says.  Rhodey just rolls his eyes.  He turns to the kid. 

“James Rhodes,” He introduces himself.  The teen gives Tony a weird look.

“Yeah, I-” the kid starts, but Tony coughs to cut him off. “I mean- Hi, I’m Peter Parker.  I’m Mr. Stark’s... intern.” he says still flustered, but shakes Rhodey’s hand.

Rhodey looks at Tony in confusion.

“We’ll talk later,” Tony mutters, and then turns back to the kid.  “Come on, don’t want to be late for your big presentation!”

“It’s for like five people,” Peter says, rolling his eyes.

“You were the one that was nervous like 2 minutes ago!” Tony teases.

Rhodey, even more confused, makes dinner plans with them and they part ways.

_Does Tony... he can’t... he wouldn’t..._

Later, when Rhodey shows up to Stark Tower, he quickly interrogates Tony as they make their way into the kitchen.

“Alright, who’s the kid.  Cause I swear to god if you’ve been keeping the fact that you have a son this  _whole time...”_ Tony chokes on his drink.

“Jesus, Rhodey.  No he’s not my  _kid_  for Christ sake-”

“Then who  _is_  he?”  Rhodey asks, not sure why Tony seems so close to some random intern.

“Who’s who?”  Peter interrupts, joining them in the kitchen.  Tony looks at the kid.

“Did you want me to tell him, or...?” Tony asks.  Peter squints in confusion, and then it dawns on him.

“Oh.  _Oh,”_ the kid says.  He turns to Rhodey and gives a little wave. “I’m Spider-Man.”

Rhodey’s quiet for a second.

“Spider-Man’s only 13?”

Tony chokes on his drink again, but this time from laughter.

\---

**_"Alright kid.  You're an Avenger now."_ **

“Wow, kid I knew you were a fan, but this is just damn cute,” Tony says as he picks up a old toy Iron Man mask off of one of Peter’s shelves.  May invited them over to do movie night at their place this time for a change of scenery, and Tony couldn't resist snooping on Peter's room while they waited for May to finish cooking.  Or... inevitably ordering takeout.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mr. Stark.  Please be careful with that.”  Peter says anxiously as Tony goes to put it on.

“What, why?  You know I can get you something better than this old thing right?  Like I can go rip one off Mark 52 or something for you and you can just replace this-“

“No!” Peter yells on accident and Tony raises an eyebrow. “That’s got a lot of… sentimental value…” He says, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

“How so?” Tony asks, genuinely curious.  He wonders if it has to do with his parents or his uncle, and if maybe he’s crossed a line.

“It’s uh… from when me and you... first met.”

Well, Tony can certainly say he wasn’t expecting that answer.

“You’ve lost me, kid.”

Peter just blushes and takes the mask from Tony’s hands.

“You probably don’t even remember this- oh man this is so stupid and embarrassing - but, uh, do you remember the 2010 Stark Expo?”

Tony laughs.

“Yeah, hard not to forget a bunch of murdering robots… Shit were you  _there_?  How old were you?  Two?”

Peter rolls his eyes but continues his story. “You signed a thing for me the first night.  And, well I’m sure you don’t remember this, but when the robots did their whole… attacking everyone thing, I was wearing this mask and a glove Ben helped me make to light up just like yours.  And, well, me being a dumb kid at the time-“

“You’re still a dumb kid”

“Mr. Stark!”

“Sorry… continue.”

“Well, I held out my hand to try to stop the robot, and suddenly the robot was blasted away and for a second I thought I had _actually_ stopped it, but then you were there and you said ‘Nice work, kid!’ and… uh, yeah it was kind of a… big deal.  Like I didn't shut up about it for years.  And then when you showed up in my _apartment_ last year asking for me to help you with the _Avengers_... yeah.”

Tony’s quiet for a moment and Peter continues to feel more embarrassed.

“That was  _you_?!” Tony asks suddenly, and Peter’s jaw drops.

“You  _remember_  that?!”

“Of course I remember that!” Tony says, standing back up and taking the mask back to inspect it more, before carefully placing it back on the shelf (definitely _not_ thinking about how he could get Pete a nice little showcase for it). “I remember thinking ‘that’s either the bravest or the dumbest kid I’ve ever met.’”

Peter laughs, “Turns out it’s the ‘dumbest,’ right?” He says jokingly, as Tony makes his way out of Peter’s room.

“Nah,” Tony says, no hint of a joke in his tone. “Definitely the bravest.”

He glances over his shoulder to see the kid beaming up at him in shock, and he knows he’s not wrong.

\---

**_“We might wanna turn!  Turn, turn, turn!”_ **

Tony notices Peter eyeing one of the Audi’s one day.

“Wanna take it out for a spin?”

Peter can't believe his ears.

“ _Me?!”_  he asks, in shock.  Tony makes a face.  “No, DUM-E over there.” The robot makes a noise from the corner and Tony shakes his head.  “Of course I mean you.”

Peter just stares at Tony.

“But I- I don’t know how to drive.  I mean, May’s taken me in parking lots and I  _did_ steal Flash’s car that one time...”

“Hold up, you  _stole_ a car?”

“It was at Homecoming and I was trying to catch the Vulture, remember?”

Tony laughs.

“You didn’t tell me  _that_  part of it.  How did you do?”

Peter frowns. “I did  _okay_. I mean I got there.  But I, uh.... didn’t really know what I was doing.”

“Well, let’s fix that.”

Peter gapes at him again. 

“ _Really?!_ ”

“Yeah, you got something better to do right now?”

“No, sir!”

Tony drives them up to the compound, where they have plenty of room to practice without other cars or pedestrians to worry about.  They start off slow and easy, and things go pretty well for a while.

Until Tony tries to push the kid a little.

“Ok, now drive like... faster than a grandma would walk.”

But Peter's so stressed out that he panics and presses the gas a little too hard, and suddenly they’re approaching the compound’s perimeter wall a little too quickly.

“Not  _that_ fast! Turn, turn, turn!” Tony yells, and Peter, in a moment of panic-induced thought, uses his web shooters to turn instead of the wheel, just like he had done with Flash’s car.

They just miss the wall, but the car practically flips on it’s side.  They come to a halt, and both try to catch their breath for a moment.

“What the hell was that!?” Tony yells.

“I- I’m so, so, so,  _so_  sorry _,_ Mr. Stark,” Peter says, guiltily. “I promise I’ll pay for any damage I caused-” but he’s cut off because Tony is fully losing it with laughter in the passenger seat.

“That’s insane,” he says, laughing so hard he’s crying and having to wipe the tears from his eyes. “The webshooters- I wouldn’t have even- that’s the funniest shit I’ve ever-”

“What is  _happening_  right now?” Peter asks, expecting Tony to be pissed.

“Oh god, kid, you’re truly the weirdest teen I have ever met.”

Peter hits his head on the top of the steering wheel in embarrassment. 

\---

**“ _Like in Footloose, the movie?”_ _“Exactly like Footloose! Is it still the greatest movie in history?”_ _“It never was.”_**

Tony notices his humor’s been rubbing off on the kid.  He’s kind of living for it.

There was a hint of that same sense of humor before: the kid can’t keep his mouth shut whenever they’re fighting someone, and he fires quips back at Tony pretty quickly for someone who has only known Tony Stark for a little over a year.  But now it’s getting to the point where their banter is kind of freaking Pepper out a little.

She’s trying to make them dinner when she observes their teasing.

“Big plans this weekend?”  Tony casually asks Peter as he scrolls through his Stark tablet.  The kid, who is working on his homework at the table, just shrugs.

“I have a lot of homework,” he says, frowning.  Tony rolls his eyes.

“I thought you were a nerd and did everything the moment you get it.  Just blow it off, we’ll go do something cool.  Wanna go to a concert or something?  F.R.I.D.A.Y. look up who’s playing this weekend.”

"Quit encouraging the kid to make bad choices, Tony,"  Pepper says while she stirs the pot in front of her.  She doesn't have to be looking to know that Tony's rolling his eyes.  But Peter's reaction gives it away.

“I really  _can’t_ , Mr. Stark,” he whines, sounding frustrated.  “I already blew it off last weekend to hang out with you.”

Pepper stifles a giggle at that.

“Fine. Whatever, nerd.”

“Takes one to know one.”

Pepper laughs openly this time as she starts to set the food on the table.  They both look up at her.

“He’s like a miniature version of you!”  She says, exasperated.

Peter beams brighter than the sun, and Tony rolls his eyes with a hint of a smile on his face.

“Oh please, he could never be as cool as me.”

“He’s right,”  Peter says, and Tony smirks. “I’m much cooler!”

Tony’s about to quip back before Pepper cuts him off.

“Alright reign it in, both of you!  It’s time to eat,” she says as she heads back towards the stove to get the rest of the food.  “I thought one of you was a lot of work, but  _two_  of you is too much to handle.”

She doesn’t see them fist bump behind her.

\---

**_“Got you! Got you! Sorry I can’t remember anybody’s names!”_ **

Tony sees it on the news, and doesn’t even think as he tells F.R.I.D.A.Y. to get a suit ready.  A four alarm fire rages through a couple floors of a building in Queens, and Spider-Man can be seen going from window to window to look for anyone that’s trapped and trying evacuate everyone on the rest of the floors.

The firefighters are already on the scene, but it’s an insanely huge fire and it’s spreading very, very quickly.  Tony gets there just as Spider-Man’s about to evacuate the top floor, when the entire floor is engulfed in flames.  He hears a desperate “No!” come from Spider-Man’s suit.

“Peter, wait!”

“There’s still people up there!”

It’s no use stopping him, because Peter rushes into the building.  Tony made the suit fireproof of course, but it wasn’t intended for just... running head first into a four alarm, potentially five alarm fire.

“Peter!” Tony yells desperately has he follows the kid in there.

 

 

But they’re both just a bit too late.  They manage to pull some bodies out, but by that point the fire was too strong and powerful that no one could have survived.  Peter doesn’t say anything as they help recover bodies (too many bodies), and Tony knows that Peter’s really not going to take this well (not that he expected him to).

The kid doesn’t wait around to get checked by medical staff after things are finished up, and Tony has to track him down.  Luckily he’s not too far, just sitting on a fire escape several blocks away.  Tony lands next to him and steps out of the Iron-Man suit.

“You okay, kid?  I know I put a ventilation system in the suit, but we should make sure-”

“I’m fine.” Peter says, shortly.  Tony’s never heard him like this, but he knows exactly what’s going through the teen’s head.

“You can’t save everyone, kid.”

Peter just shakes his head, and Tony sits down next to him.

“I’m serious, Peter.  You can’t approach missions like that.  You’re going to get yourself hurt, and then you really won't be able to save everyone.”

Peter doesn’t say anything for a while, and Tony realizes he’s crying.  He puts an arm around he shoulder, and Peter leans into it, crying into Tony’s chest.

“It’s gonna be okay kid.  Just...try remember that next time, okay?  Before you jump into something dangerous like that again.”

“Sorry, Mr. Stark,” he says through a sniffle “but that’s still not gonna stop me from trying.”

Tony just sighs.  The kid’s too good for his own good.

\---

**_“Mr. Stark? I don’t feel so good...”_ **

“Ugh, Mr. Stark.  I don’t feel so good.”

“Well that’s what you get when you eat three pints of Ben & Jerry’s in a row.”

It all started when the Avengers-themed Ben & Jerry’s flavors were released.  Peter was there when an entire fridge full of “Stark Ravin’ Hazelnuts” was dropped off at the tower, and he’d never seen the kid so excited.

“Wow,” Peter had said in awe.  “I hope Spidey gets a flavor someday.”

An hour later, Tony was on the phone with Ben & Jerry’s corporate offices. “Hi, yes. Get me Ben and/or Jerry _immediately."_

And so less than a month later, Peter’s laying across a work table in his designated lab, stomach full of “Web-Head Waffle Crunch” (it has waffle cone pieces, but the waffle grid is shaped like his webs that he shoots out) while Tony just shakes his head in amusement.

“What were we  _thinking_!?” Peter asks dramatically.

“'We?' Don’t try to drag me into this-”

“You’re the one who said we were doing science!”

“Yeah I meant, a spoonful of each to prove that  _my_  flavor is superior...”

“Yeah well  _your_  flavor is about to expel itself from my body it’s that bad.” Peter says, making a gagging noise.  Tony rolls his eyes at the drama of it all.

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have eaten all of your flavor first so that you couldn’t finish mine... that’s not very scientific of you, is it?"

“I have spider metabolism! So obviously your flavor is _so_ bad-"

“That’s it!  Out of my lab!”

“Hey, I thought this was  _my_  lab?!”

“You’re right!  And if you puke all over it, you’re cleaning it up...”

\---

**_“I don’t wanna go.... I’m sorry”_ **

“Pete, buddy?  It’s late.  Wake up.  You gotta go back to your aunt’s so you can go on that field trip tomorrow.”

The kid is passed out on the couch in Tony’s lab.  He’s got one of Tony’s old MIT sweaters on, and Tony is pretty much only waking the kid up because the sight was so adorable he wasn’t focused on what he was working on.  That and because May will kill them both if Peter’s late again.

“Tony....” Peter whines like a sleepy little kid, and the man in question promises he doesn’t think this is the cutest shit he’s ever seen. “I don’t wanna gooooo,”

“Fine you can stay the night, but don’t blame me if May’s pissed at you,” Tony teases as he helps the kid up and to his room.  Peter's leaning on Tony as they walk, and starts to wake up a bit as they make their way towards his room.

“Oh crap Mr. Stark, I should go shouldn’t I?” Peter mumbles, starting to regain consciousness as he rubs his eyes.  “I don’t mean to impose! I’m sorry!”

“Kid, shh.  You’re fine.  You have a room here, remember?  Just get some sleep.” He says as he opens the door to Peter’s bedroom. “God knows you need it. I know about your patrol habits, buddy boy.”

“Sorry,” Peter mutters again.

"Quit apologizing.  And don’t make too much of a habit out of it or your aunt will murder me.  Which speaking of, it’s on you to call her and let her know you’re crashing here.  Happy can take you to school in the morning.”

Peter nods and pulls out his phone as he flops onto the bed.

“’Night, Tony.”

“’Night, kid. See ya when you get back from that trip.  I wanna hear all about your take on modern art.”

He hears Peter laugh as Tony closes the door behind him.

Pepper looks at him amused when he makes his way into their room.

“What?”

“I don’t know why you keep bothering me about wanting kids when we clearly have our hands full with this one.”

Tony blushes and refuses to respond to Pepper's teasing

... and dreams of having a kid with Pepper that seems  _so real_ for _some reason_ that when he wakes up, he wonders if she’s actually pregnant.

_**“Last night, I dreamt we had a kid. It was so real...** ”_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friend unicornery on tumblr for helping me with the Ben & Jerry's flavor.
> 
> The other idea was "Turn Off The Dark Chocolate" which is only funny to me because of a podcast that we like, and I realize that no one else cares about me wanting to include "Hey Spides? Turn off the dark!" into what is supposed to be a Serious Work of Fiction....
> 
> Anyways thanks for reading!!
> 
> (P.S. the part where Peter says "the audacity" is totally meant to be read the way John Mulaney says it in his new special. Anyways...ignore me)


End file.
